第39卦
蹇
Jiǎn
Obstruction
上卦
坎 Kǎn
Water — Abysmal
下卦
艮 Gèn
Mountain — Stillness
经典文本
彖辞
利西南。不利東北。利見大人。貞吉。
象辞
山上有水，蹇。君子以反身修德。
爻辞
第初爻
初六 往蹇來譽。
第二爻
六二 王臣蹇蹇。匪躬之故。
第三爻
九三 往蹇來反。
第四爻
六四 往蹇來連。
第五爻
九五 大蹇朋來。
第上爻
上六 往蹇來碩。吉。利見大人。
The Tower of Babel
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563
Obstruction
Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted the Biblical Tower of Babel in 1563, depicting a massive spiral structure rising toward the heavens but visibly incomplete. The tower dominates the landscape, its thousands of arches and levels creating a cityscape turned vertical. Workers swarm across scaffolding, cranes lift materials, yet the upper levels remain unfinished, exposed to sky. Bruegel renders the architecture with precise detail drawn from Rome's Colosseum, but the structure cannot complete itself—the top remains open, the ambition literally interrupted. The painting captures monumental effort meeting immovable obstacle, human construction confronting limits it cannot overcome.
阅读完整论述 ↓
This is Jiǎn (蹇), Obstruction. The character depicts a lame person, someone whose progress is impeded. Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Water (Kǎn) sits above Mountain (Gèn)—danger and difficulty piling up ahead, stillness and immobility beneath. Bruegel's tower embodies this structure: the workers face the insurmountable task above (water's abyss) while the massive foundation locks them into commitment to a project that cannot be finished (mountain's immobility). The painting captures what practitioners described as "danger in front, inability to advance." Bruegel painted this in 1563 depicting the Biblical Tower of Babel, a massive structure spiraling toward the heavens but incomplete. The painting shows human ambition encountering obstruction, with the tower representing plans that cannot be completed due to divine intervention and human discord. The Judgment text speaks with careful emphasis: "Obstruction. The southwest furthers. The northeast does not further. It furthers one to see the great man. Perseverance brings good fortune." Zhou Dynasty practitioners understood that obstruction requires recognizing what cannot be overcome through direct advance. The text specifies direction—southwest represents the yielding and receptive approach, while northeast suggests pushing against resistance. Ancient commentators noted this hexagram appeared when military campaigns faced impassable terrain, when projects encountered fundamental barriers, when plans met obstacles that force revision rather than merely delay. The tower builders press forward when the text counsels turning back. The Image Text reveals the method for navigating obstruction: "Water on the mountain: the image of Obstruction. Thus the superior man turns his attention to himself and molds his character." When external advance proves impossible, the energy redirects inward. Bruegel painted this during the religious conflicts that would tear the Netherlands apart—his tower depicts collective ambition meeting divine refusal, human unity fragmenting through language confusion. In the I-Ching's sequence, Jiǎn follows Kuí (Opposition): after recognizing fundamental divergence, one encounters the obstacles that prevent forcing unity. The painting stands as permanent monument to incomplete ambition, to the moment when obstruction becomes absolute and the only question becomes what to do with energy that cannot move forward.
焦氏易林
焦延寿《易林》——第39卦本卦之辞。西汉时期以四言诗阐释卦变，为最早的系统性易学占辞集。
同載共輿，中道別去。喪我元夫，獨與孤居。
兩杯茶一冷一溫，椅上衣衫尚餘痕。門外車轍已長草，夜夜聽風不等人。
山上有水，蹇之蹇——阻之自身。
阅读完整注释 ↓
山上有水，蹇之蹇——阻之自身。此為改寫詩，須據原詩：「同載共輿，中道別去；喪我元夫，獨與孤居。」同車而行，中途離散。夫已亡故，獨守空屋。最親密之棄離：同乘一輿之人，中途竟別。從蹇至蹇，山不動、水不流。同卦相遇無變化，唯有純粹的、不可緩解的蹇之體驗。空椅、冷茶——阻滯無出口，哀慟無轉圜之慰藉。
English commentary
Water on the mountain returns to water on the mountain — Obstruction unchanged. This verse (a rewrite) must be read through the original: 'Sharing one carriage, we traveled together, but midway you departed. I have lost my husband, and dwell alone in solitude.' The original captures the most intimate form of abandonment: two who rode the same carriage, bound by marriage and shared direction, until one simply left. The survivor remains, companionless, in an empty house. From Obstruction to Obstruction, the pattern holds: the mountain does not move, the water does not flow. When the same hexagram meets itself, there is no transformation — only the pure, unrelieved experience of the condition. The empty chair and the cold tea are obstruction without exit, grief without the consolation of change.